I was going to echo your thoughts, but then thought the comments might be tongue-in-cheek. Yankee hating is passe, not the sign of a real baseball fan, but of a pink hat wearer. And for a grown man to steal a baseball from a little kid is disgusting.

I agree with you on taking a baseball from a little kid, but did you really have to bring up that tired old "who's a REAL baseball fan" stuff? You realize it's not a zero-sum game right?

There's so much of that "You're not as much as [neighborhood resident/fan/partisan] as I am so you don't count" stuff already. It's curve rather than either or. If one is secure in their own place, there's no need to denigrate others who are different. More Boston Strong togetherness and less Other Weak divisiveness.

Note that I don't mean to pick on you particularly, but the pink hat thing triggers flashbacks to bike vs car level threads.

Said that's part of what makes us such a funny city (we were ranked in the top 5 funniest cities in some list - along with other cities generally with a harder "edge" like NY and Chicago)
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will have to say - there are a lot of things said around here that are just plain mean - but people think they are funny. I'm from NY and what passes for a sense of wit around here sometimes eludes me. Just because you say it with a smile doesn't make it funny.

HELLO HELLO MR KERMIT I KNOW ITS NOT EASY BEEING GREEN BUT YOU HAVE TO REALISE THAT THE YANKEES ARE THE EVIL EMPIRE OF BASE BALL THAT KID PROBABLY HAD PINE TAR ALL OVER HIS HANDS JUST LIKE DEREK CHEATER OR ALEX RODMAN I WISH HE WOULD TAKE THE WHOLE REST OF THE TEAM OVER TO NORTH KOREA WITH HIM AND THEN THEY COULD JUST STAY THERE AND PLAY BOARD GAMES AGAINST MR KIM JENGA UNO THAT SOUNDS KIND OF FUN ACTUALLY

Once saw a guy in a left field patio box (one of the super expensive ones underneath the pavilion deck) lean out like a fool to catch a tipped foul. He then tossed the ball over to the guy next to him, a man wearing a suit, who then proudly held the ball up for all to see. What an accomplishment! We happily chanted "YOUR FLUNKY MADE THE CATCH!" to celebrate his victory. I don't think he heard.

I remember that one of my colleagues once ran the Marathon as an illegal, what he called back-of-the-pack, runner. Apparently that was/is pretty common though I'm sure that the BAA has cracked down on those types of runners, especially after last year.

So, beyond race photos, how are the numbers used? I'm surprised that BAA doesn't have a system where if a number crosses a checkpoint more than once then the number is flagged and a race official stops the runner at the next checkpoint.

Even so, who cares? Or, more to the point, who cares to this degree or level? They ran on public roads while they were closed ... they didn't cause 300 people to need hospitals, coffins, and artificial limbs!

a) the runners - if this was 10 people, no big deal. If lots more - all kinds of problems. You are in a bigger pack - maybe slows you down, keep hearing about people that didn't get their medals - did the BAA Run out and now they have to print more? And hey - some young woman busted her butt to get that number - and a few scum hitchhiked on her hard work for the price of some toner and a piece of paper. Not cool.

b) much bigger issue - they planned for what - 36,000 runners? They probably know the numbers pretty well in terms of how they have to staff things - especially medical. If a couple thousand of these bandits end up on the course and overload the medical tents - could be a problem.

Could have been as simple as a few people printing out numbers from a pic on the interwebs. But it looks like 4 people that we know of had one person's bib. Probably not hard from there to print thousands and alter the numbers a bit.

This is essentially theft of services. Don't expect the DA to prosecute anything - but it's akin to fare-jumpers. Doesn't hurt anybody, except the rest of us who ride the T. Perhaps it was nothing - but if you do nothing it will eventually become a problem. If you are a runner, especially one that qualified and paid - this has to piss you off.

How about you just go run 26 miles on your own somewhere? Why do you need to shut half the state down so you can have someone pat you on the back? Let the top 50 run and compete for first. I'd love to play for the red sox, but that doesn't mean I'm an elite baseball player. Marathon runners are insufferable. Get over yourselves.

Amazing how marathoners can get so precious - I've even heard men compare running a marathon to labor and birth (!) and other such specialness. Marathons are tough, sure, but 120 miles in a day on a bike is, too, especially when chased with another 95 the next day.

When they shut down 110 miles of road all day for the Pan Mass Challenge, or 160 over three days for the Autumn Escape, we can talk about resources, etc.

as to any solutions to this kind of thing. I had no idea, honestly, that people were going to these extents to get a bib. All of the events, obviously, have to draw a line somewhere but they do tend to get awfully "monied" if the bar to entry is so high. The PMC is an event I'd love to do sometime but the idea of having to raise a minimum of $4000 from my friends and family is pretty daunting.

Pan Mass, many other rides ... you won't get accommodations, but the roads are open to the public. Many people do join in to these rides - either to join a friend for a stretch, or to tag along.

Similarly, you should be able to run without a number as a public citizen on the public ways - and not expect support services or a special medal, however.

Also, Sally? You might look into the Lung Association's Autumn Escape, which has a $500 minimum for a three-day event. If you can get the training in by June, there is the Trek Across Maine, also for the American Lung Association of New England, that is a slightly more challenging 3-day event.

This is one of those cases where the "solutions" cause more problems than the problems. Because we are still pants-pissing from last year, unverified people with short shorts and singlets are seen as a SECURITY THREAT because they might have pressure cookers in their butts. Therefore a local tradition almost as old as the Boston Marathon itself - running the course unregistered, or "bandit" - must be shut down. Therefore the bandits, many of whom are raising money for charity but not enough or fast enough to be allowed into the marathon, use fake numbers. And then they get called nasty names, even by reprobates, for stealing something imaginary.

Face it: the Boston Marathon isn't about Boston. It's part of an international marathon circuit, governed by AIMS, and it has more to do with other marathons than with anything else in Boston. Nobody who's actually from Boston or even nearby will likely win it again, and even the charity runners have only a small minority of participants actually from Boston or anywhere along the route. Lots of Bostonians who like to show up and cheer things show up and cheer, but mostly the marathon itself is about and among people from somewhere else. Many would-be local participants have effectively been priced out of a global marketplace.

There are only a couple hundred people really competing in this race. If you're pushing yourself to make a three hour time, you are not going to suddenly pull off 2:15. The competitive echelon of the sport is far above the 36K runners and joggers who pay to go down the course. Most runners are just competing with themselves, and enjoying the expensive luxury good that marathon participating has become.

Perhaps part of the solution to the problem of having an exclusive international event impact the local community while financially excluding participation by most able members of the local community might be to set aside a number of participant slots for local participants. Or the BAA and authority freaks could just roll back their stupid decision, set up a corral for the "bandits" again, and shut up and stop whining if a runner doesn't have a real bib.

I know we're all a little burned out on the hype this week, but the marathon is f'ing amazing, and I speak as someone who can barely run fast enough to catch the ice cream truck. It's a fantastic event and as most observers will tell you, the greatest pleasure isn't just watching the extraordinary elite runners--it's watching and cheering the thousands of "ordinary" runners who struggle and strain to finish. The ones who raise thousands of dollars for charity, the ones who run wearing tutus or chicken hats or full military gear. I've been watching since I was a kid and I don't think I've ever finished marathon day completely dry-eyed. Honestly...I'm sorry, but you just don't get it.

Adam I'm a little surprised at you posting a Gawker Media link. They are nothing but a tabloid blog looking for clicks. They've also done some shady things in the past (stolen iPhone prototype story) and it seems they are really pulling for a witchhunt for the two BC kids they IDed here.

Let me tell you first hand what it's like when a grown up like you steals a ball from a kid like that: you kill their trust in adults just a little bit faster. It stings and it becomes a thorn in your side as you grow up. In 2005, Jason Varitek tossed a ball to my son during batting practice and another jackass like you snagged the ball before he could catch it. Tek yelled at the guy saying, "It was for the kid." The guy, instead of giving it to my son handed it to the kid he was with saying, "Now you have 2 balls and you can sell one on eBay."

My son, who is now an adult, obviously never forgot that moment. He never quite enjoyed batting practice the way he did before that moment. In fact, on opening day he turned to me and said, "Remember when the guy stole Cap'n Tek's ball from me?" You have now turned that child's memory of a Red Sox player tossing a kid a baseball forever into, "Remember the time that jackhole Red Sox fan stole a ball from me?"

That's why god invented therapists. I'm sorry that your son had to deal with that jerkface adult, but if he hasn't realized that this completely sucky experience falls firmly into the "first world problems" zone, then I think you need to take him to more soup kitchens.

You might want to take the time to read the actual blog before jumping in with a smart ass remark. Pika didn't say her kid was indelibly traumatized - she just pointed out that a casually selfish and deliberately mean act stole not just a ball but what would have otherwise been a real nice memory. She was making a case for being everyday decent, not wringing her hands about some tragic victimhood.

My son, who is now an adult, obviously never forgot that moment. He never quite enjoyed batting practice the way he did before that moment. In fact, on opening day he turned to me and said, "Remember when the guy stole Cap'n Tek's ball from me?" You have now turned that child's memory of a Red Sox player tossing a kid a baseball forever into, "Remember the time that jackhole Red Sox fan stole a ball from me?"

And since you're apparently too lazy to read the blog post before responding (again) - here's the part that immediately follows, which shows that her son (now a young man) wasn't 'traumatized', and in fact sounds like he has his head screwed on better than many:

I don't care if the kid's a Yankees, Royals or even Blue Jays fan, the ball goes ALWAYS goes to the kid. End of discussion.

I hope that kid now does what my son used to do after that, he always carried an extra sharpie with him to batting practice so when kids who didn't have a pen or something for a player to sign their hat, ball, program, whatever in Canvas Alley, my son would hand them his extra pen so they wouldn't go home disappointed.

To give you an idea of why I adore Jason Varitek, he later took a moment from warming up the pitcher in the bull pen and signed my son's cap. Tek is a hero in our home for that reason (and many others). Because the other thing my son said to me on opening day this year as we were freezing our butts off in the right field grandstands?

Looking closer Brown noticed a Twitter handle on the bib and it didn't take her long to figure out it was Chelsa Crowley, a New York city stylist and fashion writer who was running with her husband Dennis Crowley, the founder of Foursquare.

"I put that work in it and it wasn't fair that someone else didn't have to do that. That was my first thought," said Brown.

Crowley tweeted on April 4, 2014, that she was looking for a bib.

On Marathon Monday, someone tweeted to her "Fake bib? 34033" The next day she replied "Shhh

Dennis Crowley admitted they made up a number for his wife but said there was no malicious intent.

They had run the marathon together last year but got separated near the finish line before the bombs went off. After that emotional experience, they wanted to run together again.

Crowley said he had an official number because he didn't finish last year but his wife couldn't get one. They said they donated $5,000 to charity this year.

"I understand she wanted to support her husband and wasn't thinking of me, or wasn't disgracing my charity. She just wanted to help her husband. But there are ways you can do that, there were probably 25,000 charity numbers, anyone could have done that. But I just think everyone should have gone about it the right way and done it the fair way that we all did," said Brown.

who forged their bibs were really non-existent (despite the photos). And the demonstrated ability of bandit runners to enter the race with forged bibs is also non-existent.

If this is really such a legitimate problem that the BAA and others think should be taken seriously (and for the record I personally believe this "issue" falls into the "mountain out of a molehill" category), then perhaps we need to look at changing the procedures for runners picking up bibs and issue them on the morning of the race. And it that means that the registration tents need to open at 3 am on the morning of the race to accommodate that, so be it.

MGL Chapter 267, Section 2. Whoever, with intent to injure or defraud, falsely makes, alters, forges or counterfeits a railroad ticket, railroad mileage book or railroad pass, or a ticket, badge, pass or any written or printed license purporting to entitle the holder or owner thereof to admission to any exhibition, entertainment, performance, match or contest of any kind, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than three years or in jail for not more than two years, or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.

I normally care little about the Boston Marathon but I'm surprised at the cavalier attitude toward those who donned fake numbers to enter the race after the Islamic terrorist attacks of last year. For approximately 364 days before this year's event, officials announced this would be the most secure Marathon ever and there would be zero tolerance for security breaches. Still, several runners proceeded to create counterfeit bibs and enter the contest. Other than defrauding the BAA out of the entry fee, their intentions weren't overly malicious but what if they were? The statute is clear, DA Conley should use the convincing photographic evidence to indict the violators on the above three year felony. Failure to do so sends the wrong message to those who would do us further harm.

Also, anyone advocating criminal charges here needs to have their head examined. Not to mention we have a hard enough time of convicting violent criminals in this state, nothing would come of it anyway.

Like the old Yankee Stadium, (owned by New York City), the marathon route would probably legally be considered blocked off to the general public, and trespass laws would probably apply to anyone who willfully remained on the course without oermission during the race.

Lost in all this is that some of the bandits were running as charity runners. Charities only get a certain number of bibs and others wanted to run for the charity, so they made a fake bib.

If there aren't enough charity bibs, then skip running and just donate the money anyway. The race entry is a carrot to get people to raise money and donate. If someone's primary motivation is charity, then they don't need to race.

I think legally the BAA would be able to recover costs against these rouge runners if they wanted to. Just because the race was full doesn't give these runners more of a right to run. if the cost to run is $4,000 and the race is sold out, the BAA should be entitled to the $4,000 from those who used the race course (which cost then BAA millions of dollars to secure).

A more interesting case would be those who jumped onto the course during the last 2-3 miles to run with their friends and family.

I cannot agree with this for moral reasons. Minimal 3 years prison with the mark of a felony for jumping in a marathon is grossly unequal punishment. Remember, going bandit have happen every year for years now. While always controversial, it never generate these type of discussion until those two idiots did this.

You may tell me that thing have changed. That we cannot tolerate now what we tolerate before for security reasons. That we can't tolerate anymore because it sends a message to the those who wish to do harm.

I say the message it sends to those-who-wish-harm is we went from a mix of somewhat heated discussion to giving 3 years minimum prisons as felons. Jumping from basically "boy will be boys" (can't think of a better common line for de facto practices that is against rules but not punished harsly) to felonies would be a win for those wishing harm.